Updates, advisories and surprises

(12:40 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Delphi Corp.
DPHIQ
on Friday reported its second-quarter net loss narrowed to $551 million, or 98 cents a share, from $821 million, $1.46 a share, in the same period last year. The company credited the decline in loss to an absence of charges recorded in the second quarter of 2007. Revenue slid to $5.2 billion from $6 billion, primarily due to a 28% drop in GM North America production volume. Sales to GMNA accounted for 19% of total revenue in the quarter, down from 31% in the year earlier period. Delphi also said General Motors Co.
GM, +1.24%
has agreed to increase advances to the auto parts maker by $300 million to $950 million following modification of its reorganization plan.

Fannie, Freddie shares sink after big loss by Fannie

(9:32 AM ET) WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Shares of big mortgage buyers Fannie Mae
FNM, +7.06%
and Freddie Mac
FRE, +2.65%
sank at the opening on Friday after Fannie reported a wider-than-expected second-quarter loss of $2.3 billion, or $2.54 a share. Fannie's shares were down 16% or $1.68 to $8.27 at the opening while shares of Freddie fell 6% or 33 cents to $5.56. Fannie is slashing its dividend to conserve capital but expects 2008 to be its peak year for credit-related expenses, which hurt the company in the quarter.

Applied Industrial profit matches Street expectations

(9:04 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Applied Industrial Technologies
AIT, -0.57%
said Friday its second-quarter profit totaled $24.4 million, or 57 cents a share, from $24.6 million, or 56 cents a share, in the same quarter a year before. Analysts had also expected earnings on average of 57 cents a share, according to a FactSet Research survey. Sales for the quarter totaled $530 million compared to $528 million in the year-ago period. For fiscal 2009, the company said it expects earnings of $2.20 to $2.40 a share on sales of $2.13 to $2.24 billion.

Edison International earnings more than double in quarter

(9:00 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Edison International
EIX, +0.56%
said Friday that second-quarter earnings rose to $261 million, or 79 cents a share, compared to $93 million, or 28 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue in the period rose to $3.4 billion from $3.0 billion. GAAP earnings in the second quarter of 2007 were adversely impacted from early debt extinguishment charges. Analysts polled by FactSet, on average, estimated earnings per share of 79 cents on revenue of $3.4 billion. Edison reaffirmed its forecast of $3.61 to $4.01 per share for 2008.

Hormel Foods warns on profit due to rising costs

(8:22 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Hormel Foods
HRL, +0.40%
warned fiscal third-quarter earnings would fall to a range of 37 cents to 39 cents a share, down from 41 cents a share in the year-earlier period, on higher-than-expected feed and fuel input costs at its Jennie-O Turkey Store unit. For the year, it now sees adjusted earnings between $2.22 and $2.28 a share, below earlier guidance of $2.30 to $2.40 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet Research expected third-quarter earnings of 45 cents a share and annual earnings of $2.35 a share.

Fannie Mae swings to $2.3 billion loss in second quarter

(7:46 AM ET) WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Mortgage-finance giant Fannie Mae
FNM, +7.06%
reported a loss of $2.3 billion, or $2.54 a share in the second quarter, down from the gain of $1.9 billion, or $1.86 a share, it reported in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research were expecting the big mortgage buyer to report a loss of 91 cents a share. The company said challenging housing and mortgage market conditions and credit performance hurt its results in the quarter.

Warner Chilcott profit up after last year's settlement

(7:09 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Warner Chilcott Ltd.
WCRX
said its second-quarter net income climbed to $33.6 million, or 13 cents a share, from $7.9 million, or 3 cents a share, as revenue rose 3% to $234 million. Growing revenue of Loestrin 24, Femcon and Taclonex offset generic competition for Estrostep, the women's health care products firm said. The year-earlier quarter was impacted by a $10 million settlement. Its adjusted cash net income of 33.6 cents a share edged past FactSet Research-compiled analyst estimates of 32 cents a share. Adjusted earnings per share are seen between $1.30 and $1.35 a share on revenue between $935 million and $945 million.

Beazer Homes loss narrows slightly as revenue drops 40%

(6:55 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Beazer Homes USA Inc.
BZH, -3.94%
said Friday that its fiscal third-quarter net loss narrowed slightly to $109.8 million, or $2.85 a share, from $118.7 million, or $3.09 a share, a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter fell 40% to $455.6 million. The loss from continuing operations was $2.85 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting a loss of $2.75 a share in the latest quarter. The home builder said the fall in revenue was driven by a 37% decline in home closings and an 8.8% fall in average selling price.

MBIA profit up on derivatives gain, will resume buyback

(6:35 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Bond insurer MBIA Inc.
MBI, -0.72%
said Friday that its second-quarter net profit jumped to $1.7 billion, or $7.14 a share, from $211.8 million, or $1.61 a share, a year earlier. The gain was driven by $3.3 billion in pretax unrealized gains on insured credit derivatives. The group said its adjusted operating profit in the quarter was $228.9 million, or 96 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting a loss of 60 cents a share in the latest quarter. MBIA said it hasn't altered its projection for its ultimate loss on mortgage-related exposure and as a result loss reserves had an insignificant impact on net income. The company also said its board of directors has authorized the resumption of its share repurchase program, which was suspended in the third quarter of 2007.

LifePoint second-quarter earnings rise

(6:32 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- LifePoint Hospitals
LPNT, +0.27%
said second-quarter earnings from continuing operations rose to $31.5 million, or 59 cents a share, from $24.6 million, or 43 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been expecting the hospital operator to make 56 cents a share, on average. LifePoint said it now sees full-year earnings per share of between $2.55 and $2.70.

Air Canada owner reports profit rise on stake sales

(6:19 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Ace Aviation(CA:ACE.A), the Air Canada owner, said its second-quarter profit climbed to C$830 million ($789 million), or C$10.76 a share, from C$118 million, or 98 Canadian cents a share. The profit rise was mostly on the sale of stakes in Aeroplan and Jazz. It swung to an operating loss of C$2 million during the quarter, while revenue rose to C$2.78 billion from C$2.66 billion. It's actively exploring options for its 75% interest in Air Canada.

Aircastle profit slips 7% as revenue rises

(6:18 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Aircraft leasing company Aircastle
AYR, -1.61%
said Friday that its second-quarter net profit fell 7% to $35.3 million, or 45 cents a share, frmo $38.1 million, or 57 cents a share, a year earlier. Total revenue for the quarter rose 71% to $145.4 million. Adjusted earnings for the quarter were 44 cents a share, a penny below the consensus forecast according to a FactSet poll. The group said revenue growth was driven by higher lease rental, which was partly offset by lower interest income on its debt investments.

AES profit jumps to $905 million, raises forecast

(6:11 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Power company AES Corp.
AES, -0.51%
said Friday that its second-quarter net profit jumped to $905 million, or $1.31 a share, from $254 million, or 37 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter rose 24% to $4.15 billion. The group said its overall results for the first half of the year were ahead of its expectations and that it was raising its earnings guidance for the year by 2 cents to $1.16 a share and added its board has authorized a share buyback of up to $400 million. The group said its profit included on the sale of its Northern Kazakhstan business and that adjusted earnings per share for the quarter were 17 cents.

Inpex Q1 net rises 29%, lifts full-year forecast

(2:33 AM ET) HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japanese energy producer Inpex Holdings(JP:1605)Friday reported a 29% jump in fiscal first-quarter profit as higher crude-oil and natural gas prices more than offset a decline in production. It also raised its earnings forecast for the full year. Net income for the April-June period rose to 49.7 billion yen ($456 million), or 21,124 yen a share, from 38.5 billion yen. Quarterly sales improved 41% to 381.3 billion yen. Average prices of domestically-produced crude-oil jumped 41%, while prices of overseas output flared up 78%, offsetting a 6.5% decline in production volume. The company got 4% more per unit of gas sold in Japan, and 63% higher for each unit of gas sold overseas, while output slipped 1%. Inpex raised its full-year net income forecast to 177 billion yen from 120 billion yen previously.

RBS swings to loss after 5.9 bln pound write-down

(2:27 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Royal Bank of Scotland(UK:RBS)
RBS, -1.87%
said Friday that it swung to a first-half net loss of 802 million pounds ($1.56 billion) from a profit of 3.56 billion pounds a year earlier. The bank took write-downs in the period of 5.9 billion pounds, in line with the amount it forecast in April when it announced its 12 billion pound rights issue. The bank, which acquired some of the assets of ABN Amro in October, said that on a pro forma basis its loss was 761 million pounds compared to a profit of 3.65 billion a year earlier. RBS said its core Tier 1 ratio at the end of June was 5.7% and that it is on target to achieve its target level of 6% by the end of the year.

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